Actor writes letter to World Trade Organization asking for a continuation of the ban in light of new efforts to repeal it.

Jude Law is lending his voice to an effort by PETA to urge panelists of the World Trade Organization to uphold a European Union ban on seal fur imports.

"I'm writing to urge the panel to uphold this ban, which is in line with the wishes of compassionate people all around the world, including the majority of European citizens," wrote Law in his letter to the WTO. "Even local sentiment is turning, and a lack of markets has led Canadian officials to seriously examine whether the slaughter should end."

The legal battle against the ban, passed in 2010, is being led by the Fur Institute of Canada, which The Independent says includes "Inuit from Greenland and Canada and sporran makers in Scotland." The appeal states such grievances as economic depression to loss of fish stocks due to an increase in seal numbers.

"It is not about eradicating seals but about maintaining a balance between seals and fish," Rob Cahill of the Fur Institute of Canada told the site. In an open letter last fall, a group of marine scientists at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, disputed Cahill's statement, saying seals are simply being used as scapegoats for overfishing abuses.

"There is no credible scientific evidence to suggest a cull of grey seals in Atlantic Canada would help depleted fish stocks recover," the group wrote.

In his letter, Law says it's time for Canada to abandon the seal hunt once and for all and for the WTO to maintain the ban.

"The purpose of the WTO is to support efficient markets, not government decisions to prop up dying industries like the seal slaughter," Law points out. "Rather than using the WTO to prop up a dying industry, Canada should pursue a buyout of the commercial sealing industry – a move that would help both seals and sealers. The world is watching and waiting – please uphold the EU ban."'